This is not a blog.

Considered the biggest sporting event on the planet (Slater, 2014), the Olympic Games will be hosted for the first time in a Latin American country this year. Among cities such as Chicago (United States), Tokyo (Japan), and Madrid (Spain), for example, Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) was elected, in 2009, the host city for the event, which will be held in August, 2016 (Juliart, 2009). Since the President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), Jacques Rogge, announced the decision, an arduous preparation process began to be carried out in order to ensure the city would be ready for the Games in 2016 (Paes, 2009). In this process, several construction and renovation projects were started in the seven cities involved in the event, in addition to others which were never carried out. In addition to the aforementioned projects, the adaptations include improving transport, discussing and implementing new security policies, providing adequate accommodations for the athletes and their confederations, investing in technologies towards safety, among others (Kiernan, 2014). Although the projects presented to the Organizing Committee of the Olympic Games seem to comprise all relevant areas involved in the event, it has been widely questioned if the country will be ready to host the Games by August (Sir, 2015; Madam, 2015; Both, 2016). Brazil’s experience with the World Cup in 2014 is one of the arguments presented by those who maintain that the country is not capable of meeting its deadlines and should cancel the Games (Slater, p.c.). Another argument involves the recent collapse of the elevated bike path_, which was considered by the Mayor one of the symbols of the Olympic Games in the city. The accident killed two people and also the credibility of Rio de Janeiro as host city (Watts, 2016). In addition to all issues directly involved with the event, the political scenario of the country and the Zyka virus epidemics are two other points to be considered in the discussion on the viability of the Olympic Games in Rio (Bello, 2016). The impending impeachment of President Rousseff, the ideological – and sometimes violent – confrontations between groups pro and against the Government, and the alarming number of people contaminated by the Aedes aegypti mosquito constitute enough arguments for a significant number of people who would attend the Games, but decided not to go anymore (Society, 2016). The present study addresses the impracticability of the Olympic Games in Rio, considering the progress of the works intended for the event, the political and economic issues faced by the country, as well as the safety and security levels of the city. It intends to demonstrate that, 98 days before the opening ceremony of the event, Brazil is still not ready to host such a big and important event, which puts at risk not only the Olympics, but the reputation of Rio de Janeiro, as well as of the country.